The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1887-10-22
THE PROPOSED AMENDMENT.

In view of the fact that the Republi-
can party began its career as the enemy
of 1.-The twin relics of barbarism
poIygamy and slavery" the San Fran
cisco Alta thinks it strange that
Republican newspapers should antagon,
ize the proposition to adopt an anti
polygamy amendment to the Federal
Constitution. It was through Consti
tutional amendment that slavery was
abolished, and not by Congressional
enactment, or Supre ne Court opinions.
Our esteemed contemporary suggests
that even the decisions of the
highest court may not suffice to
settle q permanent rule concerning
polygamy any more than it did
concerning slavery. 1t has been decided
that Congress has the right by such leg
islation as the Edmunds law to punish
polygamy in the Territories, but that
right does not prohibit polygamy. The
AItG says:
Congress eau so refuse to admit a Ter RI
shtUtIon canonizes against plural marriage.
But what would be done If State already
admitted should choose to so amend its
Constitution as to sanction polygamy? Con
gress is charged to guarantee each State
republican form of government. 1t may
have such form and yet defend plurality
of wives
Everybody knows that prior to the consti-
tuhonal abolition OF slavery, any Northern
State could have changed its organic law
and its statutes and adopted slavery, il
majority of the people chose. Why may not
any State now DO the same with the surviv-
ing swim relic?"
4 majority of the States have laws
against lotteries, and Federal regulations go
In the same direction. But Louisiana has
Constitutional lottery established by the
organic law Of the State.
The Utah problem has been difficult to
deal with because 1t is mixed political and
ecclesiastical question, and there is no
Federal marriage law by which the practice
of pOlygamy may be forbidden. POlygamy,
therefore, is local institution, and to leave
it so is to prepare for future complications
OF the graVest character.
The Mormon vote of Nevada, Idaho, Mon
tans, New Mexico and Arizona is large.
That vote dominates Utah. There is
prospect that there may some day be formed
a group of six polygamous States. Utah
can spare enough Mormons to make them
so The late Vice-PreBident Hendricks
spoke of the Mormon Church as
once the outcRst Hagar tainting In the
desert. The suggestion is apt, for when
HagRr went forth into the desert Ishmael
was destined to become the sire of that
race from which Mahomet sprang, and SO
spread, among hundreds of millions of peU-
pie, the practices that made his mothers
presence in Abrams tent inSuferable Our
government is dealing no longer with
Hagar. We have Ishmael on our hands,
and if this generation is ambitious to leave
no harmful national problem to the future,
to cost blood and treason in its solution, the
issue will be settled now by the Federal Con
stitution. With such an amendment
adopted as the minority of the Utah
Commission proposes there will be 30
further bar to the admission of
the polygsmous and semi-polygamous
Territories e. States. 1t would be foolish to
deny that the Mormon people have many ex-
cellent characteristics in common with the
rest Of our citizens There is no just reason
to doubt that they would obey the Federal
Constitution, and, If they did not, the en-
forcement of itagainst their practices would
be in the HANDS Of he Federal Courts, and of
iuries drawn from the Gentle population,
so-ealled. We have seen the sentiment
which favored slavery as patriarchal insti-
tuition fade utterly away during the lifetime
of the generation which rose to defend IL in
battle. If the former slave-holding States
were offered the chance to restore that insii-
tuition by again amending the Constitution,
the votes Of helotS and their descendants
being restrained, the proposition would be
overwhelmingly defeated